General News
7 June, 2026
Edenhope CFA veteran Peter Irving earns national honour
From fireground decisions at Kadnook to decades of mentoring and planning, Peter Irving’s CFA service has earned him King’s Birthday recognition.
HONOURED with an Australian Fire Service Medal for King’s Birthday 2026 is Peter Irving of Edenhope.
Born in South Australia and moving to Edenhope as a 17-year-old, the now-retired farmer has served as CFA Group Officer for the five brigades in the area for about 20 years, and sees his role as a multifaceted responsibility that lends itself to not just sharp asset and situational management in fire emergencies, but training, mentoring and planning.
He said he was a “highly motivated” individual and was always trying to fill his days in “pretty solidly”.
“I just have a bit of a routine,” Peter said.
“I don't sit comfortably.
“For me, it's a full-time commitment, the fire season, the CFA, and all those things.”
A big factor in his nomination was the blue gum plantation fire that broke out near Kadnook in 2024 – his oversight as Incident Controller, informed by his 42 years' experience and local knowledge, helped keep it contained within certain key boundaries.
“I remember it clearly; it was the Edenhope Show Day, and we always take a pumper down there,” Peter said.
“I was there with our captain, and the next thing we knew, the pager went off.
“We spun around to head to the fire shed right next door and saw a massive column of smoke.”
With the challenging conditions of a strong northerly to contend with, a home already in danger and volunteers arriving, Peter quickly transitioned from asset protection to incident management – a task hampered by limited communications due to poor mobile and radio reception.
“The decisions that I made that afternoon ... in the deployment of CFA appliances, we sort of went from: let's have 10 tankers, and then let's make (it) 20, let's get strike teams right, then earth movers,” he said.
“For a TFB (Total Fire Ban) to be in November, that's a bit rare ... we had a strong northerly wind, and then that night, we were going to face a strong westerly wind change. We had to get a strong earth barrier on the east side of the plantations.
“We survived, we got through – it didn't break out (of) that earth barrier, and then we had plenty of appliances that were sitting on the Connewirricoo side out in farmland.”
The containment saved other nearby forests (and more) from damage, and his further decision-making in ‘sectorising’ the fire, “creating a new fire ground (radio) channel for the Chetwynd side of it” and helping keep communications working more smoothly with the Incident Control Centre in Horsham, along with the seven-week clean-up – all of this got noticed.
Although CFA command thought he would be an ideal candidate for an AFSM on the back of that excellent work, Peter said the nomination had to come from ‘rank and file’ members, with the Edenhope group secretary independently making the application.
He said he took the honour very seriously, with the number of medals awarded in Victoria limited to just six twice a year on Australia Day and King’s Birthday.
“To me it's just about being there for the community, just being that person,” Peter said.
“You just need somebody to hold things together … just to be somebody that will coordinate or be able to coordinate a response.
“I suppose over time I've become quite comfortable at being that person.”
As a Group Officer, endorsed Strike Team leader and Sector Commander, Peter has managed responses to numerous large-scale fire events across Western Victoria.
In addition to his brigade responsibilities, Peter has contributed significantly to advancing CFA volunteers through his involvement as a delegate with Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria since 2008, and in May 2022, he was elected president of the District 17 branch.
Peter is a keen bike rider, and you may just spot him on one of the roads around Edenhope getting in a solid “25 or 30 k’s a day”, sometimes even as much as 50.
“That keeps me out of a bit of trouble for an hour and a half,” he laughed.
He’s done the 520-kilometre Murray to Moyne ride twice, which raises funds for hospitals and health services throughout Victoria and Australia, but said one of his most impactful experiences has been walking the 96-kilometre Kokoda Track with his son last year, with the trek timed to arrive at Isurava Village for a dawn service on Anzac Day.
“It's the first battle point where the Australians and the Japanese came face to face,” Peter said.
“These five marble stones been set up there in a semi-circle, and on each of the marble stones is an engraved message – it's really very, very special.”
Speaking at length about the trip, Peter said the topography and artefacts still visible from wartime made the experience very real “recognising and experiencing what the Australian Armed Services had to endure” and also made him wonder about the value of his medal.
“I go to the Remembrance Day services on the 11th of the 11th, and I also go to Anzac Day, and the armed services people, they wear their medals, and they justly deserve their medals,” he said.
“I don't know if I fit that same role.”
For now, he was looking forward to the official presentation in September and a trip to Everest Base Camp the following month, as “it’s always been a curiosity to me”.
On return, it will be back into preparations for the summer, and he was clear about his priority for those under his decision-making.
“If you're a volunteer on the CFA, and you get on that truck, the most important thing is you do is that you come home alive.”
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